Infographic: How Boomers and Millennials Use UGC Differently

I’m technically a millennial, but I don’t always act like one. I was born in 1981, which puts me right at the edge of the millennial generation—and which also defines, whether I like it or not, the way I interact with digital content.

Last Saturday, for example, I ordered takeout through Amazon Restaurants. Instead of trusting Amazon’s high-quality food photography, I hopped over to Yelp to look at real images of people’s meals—and, of course, read their reviews. That’s millennial behavior. We prefer user-generated content, and we love our photos.

But if I were really a proper millennial, I might have Instagrammed my order after it arrived, adding hashtags to identify the restaurant and link my image to other Amazon purchases. Instead, I behaved like an older Internet user, consuming online video while I consumed my food, rather than sharing the experience.

A new infographic from Adweek, based on research by Olapic, illustrates the difference in online behavior between boomers and millennials. (Sorry, Generation X. You are forgotten again.) Boomers like branded content that focuses on the product, while millennials like branded content that focuses on experiences. Both demographics like photos, but boomers are more likely to prefer written content or video. And when boomers share content online, they’re going to Facebook instead of Instagram.

Take a look at the full infographic below to see if you’re more like a boomer or a millennial.